The present invention relates to a starting controller for selectively starting and stopping an engine with a one-push operation.
In recent years, in addition to improvement in the basic performance and security of a vehicle, there is a demand for improving the operability of a vehicle. To improve the operability, an engine starting control system provided with a smart ignition function has been proposed (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2002-29385 and 2001-227218). In such type of an engine start control system, when a driver carrying a portable communicator enters the passenger compartment of a vehicle, mutual communication automatically occurs between the portable communicator and an engine control unit, which is installed in the vehicle. The starting of the engine is enabled when the mutual communication is established. The engine is started and stopped by operating a start/stop switch, which is arranged in the vehicle compartment. Accordingly, after entering the vehicle, the driver only needs to operate the start/stop switch to start and stop the engine. This improves the operability.
In such an engine start control system, it is desirable that the starting of the engine be enabled even when the battery of the portable communicator is drained or when communication cannot be performed normally. For this reason, an engine start control system of the prior art has a mechanical key or a transponder communication mechanism, which are added as an emergency key to the portable communicator. In the passenger compartment, the mechanical key is inserted in a predetermined key cylinder or the portable communicator is placed in a predetermined location to enable the starting of the engine.
However, the engine is seldom started under such state of emergency. Thus, the driver may forget where to insert the mechanical key or where to place the portable device. As a result, the driver would not be able to start the engine in such an emergency.